Your Guide To Surviving In The End Times - From The Editors of ChristianMoney.com

07/18/2011

Skills, Not Things, Matter Most in Survival Preparation

As important as it is to accumulate stores of equipment and provisions, remember that, ultimately, survival is about having the ability to do things: render first aid, find and prepare food, build, defend. In other words, survival has more to do with verbs than with nouns - your ability to survive in a distressed situation will have a lot more to do with skills you have acquired than it will with things you possess. Now, don’t misinterpret that; obviously, having stores of food, ammunition, etc., are all very helpful in persisting in a survival environment. However, supplies can run out, particularly if the situation is such that it is difficult or impossible to replenish them in the same way in which you first stocked them. What doesn’t run out are the skills you’ve acquired. What is it we like to say? Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, but teach a man how to fish, and feed him for a lifetime.

We have talked before about places to go to gain training in as many areas of survival as you can feasibly obtain. Even if you cannot attend or receive all of the training you might ideally want in a relatively short period of time, begin the journey, anyway; start with something, either that which most interests you or which you believe is most critical for your anticipated survival situation.

Books and other methods of self-study can be very useful, and you should certainly be sure to take advantage of those when you have no access to more formal hands-on trainings from expert resources, but when you do have access to such opportunities, be sure to make use of them. Here are a few of which to take note:

American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) - Offers courses in basic first aid and CPR, as well as wilderness and remote first aid.

National Rifle Association (www.nra.org) – Offers a variety of courses in firearms safety and instruction (your local gun range is a good source for those, as well).

Medical Corps (www.medicalcorps.org) – Offers in-depth courses in combat medicine and field medicine to civilians at their Ohio campus.

Survival schools can be excellent choices as places for you to spend your annual vacation, assuming you’re serious about survival preparation. If interested, remember that not all survival schools are the same; some have different emphases or themes, so you want to select the one that teaches the specific skills you’re most interested in learning. Here is just a small sample of the many good schools available throughout the United States:

Jack Mountain Bushcraft (www.jackmtn.com) – Located in Maine; offers a wide variety of courses that last anywhere from a couple of days to many weeks, and which cover a wide variety of wilderness survival scenarios and circumstances.

Ancient Pathways (www.apathways.com) – Located in Arizona; offers courses in wilderness survival and primitive skills that range in length from two days to three weeks.

As for other things you need to know, identify where your skills are lacking and do some research as to how to overcome those. For example, if you are clueless when it comes to basic automobile repair, that might be something you want to remedy; you can usually find a course for that at your local community college or vocational school. The point is that as you recognize that you’re lacking in certain skill sets that will be useful in a distressed environment, make an effort to find out where to get the training to develop those skill sets.

One more thing: It’s great to learn a skill, but if it’s a skill that you have learned in preparation for an event or circumstance that is irregular in its occurrence, you have to be sure to practice that skill, or receive regular re-trainings, as often as appropriate. Even police officers, who are much likelier to have to use their firearms than you will but who generally don’t have to pull those guns very frequently, usually spend a lot of time at the range, staying sharp. Learning something serves no purpose if you cannot actually implement that skill at the appropriate time.

James L. Paris is the Editor-In-Chief of Christian Money.com and the author of more than 20 books on personal finance. He studied biblical prophecy while a student at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. Along with completing ROTC survival and marksmanship training, he is certified as a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Selling The Mark Of The Beast – How The Antichrist Will Convince The Masses To Willingly Take The Mark.

Bob Yetman, Editor-at-Large at Christian Money.com, is an author & instructor in the realm of personal finance and investing, as well as on topics of fitness and self-defense. A U.S. Army veteran, he has earned a B.A. degree in psychology from Stetson University, numerous licenses and certifications in the financial services industry, and the Certified Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Martial Arts Conditioning designations from the International Sports Sciences Association. He is the co-author of the yet to be released book, Selling The Mark Of The Beast – How The Antichrist Will Convince The Masses To Willingly Take The Mark.